Djokovic to have special support from legend Seles against Alcaraz at US Open

Friday, 05 September 2025 at 20:21

byErik Virostko

Novak Djokovic won't be alone in his fight against Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 US Open, as the nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles came to support him.

Djokovic might need every bit of help and every bit of experience to reach his first Grand Slam final of the 2025 season. So far, he has played in three semi-finals, retiring from the first one and then losing to Jannik Sinner in the next two.

Now, he will play against an opponent he hasn't played against in a semi-final this year. He will take on the current ATP World No. 2 player, Carlos Alcaraz. Although Djokovic didn't meet Alcaraz in any semi-final this year, they did meet.

Their meeting happened in the Australian Open quarter-finals, with the Serbian legend winning the match in four sets. That was their only meeting this season. Before that, Djokovic heroically beat Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics final.

However, so far this year, it's been clear that Djokovic always lacked something when he played against the best, such as Jannik Sinner, who beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion two times this year.

Therefore, Djokovic knows that to beat Alcaraz, he might need to play above the level that he has showcased this year. Cheering him on on his mission will be nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles.

Only recently, Djokovic hinted that nine-time Grand Slam singles champion Monica Seles might become his coach. Now, she will make an appearance during his semi-final match in New York, supporting the 24-time major winner in his match against Alcaraz.

Seles was talking to Djokovic already during his practice session ahead of his match against the second seed, and speaking to Sportklub, she stated that she drove eight hours to New York just to support Djokovic.

"I just came to watch him in his match. I drove eight hours to support him. I'll be here under the radar, how to say. Just to win. We all have to support him. You saw two days ago what the crowd was like."

"Novak must not waste his energy on anything, except on the court. Alcaraz is a great player, he will need everything to win. We keep our fingers crossed for him."

Seles stated she wouldn't be present in Djokovic's players' box, as she is superstitious and doesn't want him to change anything.

"I won't. I don't want him to change anything. I'm very superstitious."

Alcaraz wants revenge against Djokovic at the US Open

Djokovic's semi-final opponent, Alcaraz, appeared very confident ahead of their meeting. He stated that he wants revenge for their quarter-final match at the Australian Open.

"Novak, we all know Novak's game… It doesn't matter that he has been out of the Tour since Wimbledon. [He’s] playing great matches here. I know he's hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let's see. I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want revenge. That's obvious."

"Normally I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It's just that I'm not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But I'm going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that. There's going to be a lot of running involved, that's for sure. It's not going to be short points."